Malaysia tightens security for torch relay

Malaysian police warned protesters they faced arrest on Monday if they tried to disrupt the Olympic torch procession in the capital, as authorities seek to avoid the kind of chaos that has dogged the relay elsewhere.

About 1,000 police, including an elite special-operations squad, will be deployed along the 16.5 km (10 miles) route that starts at the colonial-era Freedom Square and ends at Petronas Towers, the world's second-tallest buildings.

The torch relay has drawn a wave of anti-China protests during stopovers in Europe and the Americas following Beijing's crackdown last month on protests in Tibet.

Pro-China demonstrations, many involving Chinese studying overseas, are becoming increasingly common as well.

The flame will travel from Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta and then the Australian capital of Canberra on April 24.

Australian organisers on Monday said they were re-routing the flame from the heart of the capital Canberra, amid fears of clashes between pro-China and pro-Tibet demonstrators.

Releasing the route of the Thursday relay, organiser Ted Quinlan said he was disappointed the torch would not now travel through major city areas and would stick to main roads in front of the Australian War Memorial and Parliament House.

"Those (city) streets don't lend themselves to a very secure torch relay," Quinlan told local radio.

"By overseas experience it's obvious that we have to do something about making sure that we can keep the full convoy secure all of the way, every metre."

Organisers said the Australian torch relay would start at 8.45 a.m. (11:45 p.m. British time, Wednesday) after a dawn fireworks display, sticking to wide roads easily secured by police. Chinese paramilitary torch attendants have been barred from any security role.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said he feared an outbreak of "football hooliganism" at the relay, following clashes during stopovers in Europe and the Americas. The flame arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Monday.

The torch is scheduled to go to South Korea and then to North Korea on April 28 before heading to Vietnam, whose prime minister has warned "hostile forces" may try to disrupt the relay in Ho Chi Minh City.

The state-run Vietnam News Agency reported on Sunday night that Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung discussed preparations for the April 29 event with local authorities and other ministries.

"Vietnam's social security and order are stable but hostile forces always attempt to disturb the situation and make harm to the country's prestige on the international arena," the report quoted Dung, who was installed in June 2006 as Vietnam's youngest premier, as saying.

The term "hostile forces" is used by the government to describe its political opponents opposed to one-party rule.